Stormlight Archive 1: The Way of Kings

"Drop!"
"Push!"
Die.

Having been through the exhaustion of his bridge-carrying run, physically hurting due to a lack of proper footwear and clothing, I too felt ready to collapse on Kaladin's behalf. But the realisation of where these bridges are going and their purpose in the Shattered Plains was like a bucket of ice water thrown into my face, and I found myself getting caught up in the hellstorm.

Experiencing this moment through the audiobook, with all the background crunching and war horn noises, truly elevated it to a cinematic level for me. This was where I first got serious about The Way of Kings, and found my own heart pulsing alongside Kaladin's as he reached the frontlines of the Parshendi army.

"What is one more try, then?” Her voice was soft, yet somehow stronger than the storm. “What could it hurt?”

Kaladin has been through some heavy times. From being Stormblessed in the army, to caged as a slave and then broken by bridge runs. This moment comes only the end of Part One, but is a powerful one with an anti-suicide message. Give life a chance.

Governor Roshone's cruelty knows no bounds. Having learnt the truth behind Lirin's spheres with Kaladin, our view of events is slightly adjusted. That doesn't change any of the shock of Tien being conscripted into Amaram's army.

“In four years, I will bring him home safely,” Kaladin said. “I promise it by the storms and the Almighty’s tenth name itself. I will bring him back.”
I promise....

Oddly this sequence reminded me of Katniss volunteering as tribute for Prim from The Hunger Games. I felt the emotion, and it was a gut-wrenching way for Tien's fall to begin. The reader's knowledge of Kaladin's inability to keep this promise, and his youthful optimism here compared to the bleakness we've witnessed throughout the novel, makes this scene truly heartbreaking.

Hoid's musical storytelling of Derethil and the Wandersail almost felt out of place in this book. Yet that is exactly why I loved it. Like a complete mini-tale from Tolkien's Silmarillion, Hoid delivers a story that shows this world is indeed far larger than what we have glimpsed in The Way of Kings - and in a few pages of a single chapter spellbindingly captures both Kaladin's and the reader's attention.

Betrayed by Sadeas. Surrounded on The Tower, Parshendi closing in. The remaining members of the Cobalt guard and the rest of his army encircled, fear in the eyes of his men. His reputation as the once ruthless Blackthorn being questioned by his seizure-inducing visions during highstorms. And Dalinar says the following, a true reflection on the in-world text titled The Way of Kings and King Nohadon's teachings. 

“Death is the end of all men!” Dalinar bellowed. “What is the measure of him once he is gone? The wealth he accumulated and left for his heirs to squabble over? The glory he obtained, only to be passed on to those who slew him? The lofty positions he held through happenstance?

“No. We fight here because we understand. The end is the same. It is the path that separates men. When we taste that end, we will do so with our heads held high, eyes to the sun.”

He held out a hand, summoning Oathbringer. “I am not ashamed of what I have become,” he shouted, and found it to be true. It felt so strange to be free of guilt. “Other men may debase themselves to destroy me. Let them have their glory. For I will retain mine!”

The Shardblade formed, dropping into his hand.

Genuinely chill-inducing and perfectly timed with the shardblade's apparition. Perhaps my favourite moment from the book.

Kaladin's paternal backstory hits with full force as his father's words echo in his mind. Despite me seeing this kind of turnaround coming from miles away, the moment was still powerful.

“Somebody has to start, son. Somebody has to step forward and do what is right, because it is right. If nobody starts, then others cannot follow."

What was even more powerful was Kaladin's uttering of the Second Ideal of the Knights Radiant. His shield had attracted all the Parshendi arrows. The reader has seen the flashback to Tien's death, Kaladin cradling his body. Then as he returns to the present, he has a renewed sense of understanding and purpose. Nearly exhausted of light, he runs across a half-pushed bridge, and leaps the remaining chasm towards the Parshendi - whose beards are woven with gems of charged Stormlight. In a slow-motion moment of bright brilliance, he absorbs the light, lands with a smile and whispers the Second Ideal:

“I will protect those who cannot protect themselves.”

A whole book building up the value of these shardblades, their superiority to other weapons on a battlefield and their ability to easily take lives. Combine that with Kaladin's hatred of lighteyes and the Alethi's classist societal structure. In this single moment, Dalinar shows he is a truly honourable man.

“What is a man’s life worth?” Dalinar asked softly.
“The slavemasters say one is worth about two emerald broams,” Kaladin said, frowning.
“And what do you say?”
“A life is priceless,” he said immediately, quoting his father.
Dalinar smiled, wrinkle lines extending from the corners of his eyes. “Coincidentally, that is the exact value of a Shardblade. So today, you and your men sacrificed to buy me twenty-six hundred priceless lives. And all I had to repay you with was a single priceless sword. I call that a bargain.”
“You really think it was a good trade, don’t you?” Kaladin said, amazed.
Dalinar smiled in a way that seemed strikingly paternal. “For my honor? Unquestionably.”

“Tell me. Tell me. What are you?”
“What am I?” Shallan whispered. “Truthfully?” It was a day of confirmation. She felt strangely strong, steady. Time to speak it. “I’m a murderer. I killed my father.”

The whole book we are given hints of Shallan's past, and towards the final Part there are hints that she possibly has a shardblade. With the truth of her father's death emerging in the climax, I found myself floored. She is no longer confined to a bed and melancholy, and without a doubt I was left excited to read more of her story in the sequel.

“We didn’t destroy the Voidbringers...We enslaved them.”

Despite the amount of cultures being thrown at readers in the book's Interludes and from some of the Bridge Four crew, details are sparing. One of these such nuances is those helpful Parshmen who have been baked into Alethi society at every level. They constantly assist Jasnah and Shallan in the Palanaeum, but were almost a forgotten detail for me about this society compared to all the lighteye/ darkeye classism.

Sanderson pulls a smart reveal yet again to finish the novel.